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JAMES R. OSGOOD & CO, PUBLISHERS, BOSTON. 



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~ , tCopyright, 1S75, by James R. Osgood & Co.*] 

Grandmother's Story of Bunker-Hill Battle 

\ AS SHE SAW IT FROM THE BELFRY. 

BY OLIVER WEXDELL HOLMES. 

'Tis like stirring living embers when, at eighty, one remembers 

All the achings and the quakings o£ " the times that tried men's souls ; 

When I talk of IF/ii^ 3.nd Tory, when I tell the /vVA-/ story. 

To you the words are ashes, but to me they're burning coals. 



I had heard the muskets' rattle of the April running battle ; 
Lord Percy's hunted soldiers, I can see their red coats still ; 
But a deadly chill comes o'er me, as the day looms up before me, 
When a thousand men lay bleeding on the slopes of Bunker's Hill. 

'Twas a peaceful summer's morning, when the first thing gave us warning 
Was the booming of the cannon from the river and the shore : 
" Child," says grandma, " what's the matter, what is all this noise and clatter .' 
Have those scalping Indian devils come to murder us once more ? " 

Poor old soul ! my sides were shaking in the midst of all my quaking. 
To hear her talk of Indians when the guns began to roar : 
She had seen the burning villa^, and the slaughter and the pillage. 
When the Mohawks killed her father with their bullets through his door. 

Then I said, " Now, dear old granny, don't you fret and worry any, 
For I'll soon come back and tell you whether this is work or play ; vf, 
There can't be mischief in it, so I won't be gone a minute " — 
For a minute then I started. I was gone the live-long day. 




No time for bodice-lacing or for looking-glass grimacing ; 
Down my hair went as I hurried, tumbling half-way to my heels ; 
God forbid your ever knowing, when there's blood around her flowing. 
How the lonely, helpless daughter of a quiet household feels ! 

In the street I heard a thumping ; and I knew it was the stumping 
Of the Corporal, our old neighbor, on that wooden leg he wore, 
\Vith a knot of women round him, — it was lucky I had found him. 
So I followed with the others, and the Corporal marched before. 



[* As this Poem is written expressly for this Memorial, and not intended for publication 
elsewhere, the Publishers request that it be not copied or reprinted.! 




( A-42-t-^ 



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They were making for the steeple, — the old soldier and his people ; 
The pigeons circled round us as we climbed the creaking stair. 
Just across the narrow river — oh, so close it made me shiver ! 
Stood a fortress on the hill-top that but yesterday was bare. 

Not slow our eyes to find it ; well we knew who stood behind it. 

Though the earth-work hid them from us, and the stubborn walls were dumb : ^ ., 

Here were sister, wife, and mother, looking wild upon each other, S^/'> 

And their lips were white with terror as they said. The hour has Come ! _^fe; 

The morning slowly wasted, not a morsel had we tasted, 
And our heads were almost splitting with the cannons' deafening thrill. 
When a figure tall and stately round the rampart strode sedately ; 
It was Prescott, one since told me ; he commanded on the hill. 

Every woman's heart grew bigger when we saw his manly figure, 
With the banyan buckled round it, standing up so straight and tall ; 
Like a gentleman of leisure who is strolling out for pleasure, 
Through the storm of shells and cannon-shot he walked around the wall. 

At eleven the streets were swarming, for the red-coats' ranks were forming ; 
At noon in marching order they were moving to the piers ; 
How the bayonets gleamed and glistened, as we looked far down, and listened 
To the trampling and the drum-beat of the belted grenadiers ! 

At length the men have started, with a cheer, (it seemed faint-hearted). 
In their scarlet regimentals, with their knapsacks on their backs, 
And the reddening, rippling water, as after a sea-fight's slaughte . 
Round the barges gliding onw'ard blushed like blood along their t 

So they crossed to the other border, and again they formed in order ; 
And the boats came back for soldiers, came for soldiers, soldiers still : 
The time seemed everlasting to us women faint and fasting, — 
At last they're moving, marching, marching proudly up the hill. 

We can see the bright steel glancing all along the lines advancing — 
Now the front rank fires a volley — they have thrown away their shot ; 
For behind their earthwork lying, all the balls above them flying. 
Our people need not hurry; so they wait and answer not. 

Then the Corporal, our old cripple, (he would swear sometimes and tipple), — 
He had heard the bullets whistle (in the old French war) before, — 
Calls out in words of jeering, just as if they all were hearing, ^- 
) And his wooden leg thumps fiercely on the dusty belfry floor: — 

"Oh ! fire away, ye villains, and earn King George's shillin's, 
But ye'll waste a ton of powder before a ' rebel ' falls ; 
, You may bang the dirt and welcome, they're as safe as Dan'l Malcolm 
Ten foot beneath the gravestone that you've splintered with your balls ! " 




Idol Eopki/i':: Itaiv. Lik- 



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In the hush of expectation, in the awe and treisiclation ^ C ( /^ 

Of the dread approaching moment, we are well nigh breathless all ; ^' 
Though the rotten bars are failing on the rickety belfry railing, 
We are crowding up against them like the waves against a wall. 



S Just a glimpse, (the air is clearer), they are nearer, — nearer, — nearer, 
^ When a flasli — a curling smoke-wreath — then a crash — the steeple shakes — 
J The deadly truce is ended ; the tempest's shroud is rended ; 
Like a morning mist it gathered, like a thunder-cloud it breaks ! 



Oh the sight our eyes discover as the blue-black smoke blows over ! 
The red-coats stretched in windrows as a mower rakes his hay ; 
Here a scarlet heap is lying, there a headlong crowd is flying 
Like a billow that has broken and is shivered into spray. 

Then we cried, " The troops are routed ! they are beat — it can't be doubted ! 
God be thanked, the fight is over ! " — Ah ! the grim old soldier's smile ! 
" Tell us, tell us why you look so ? " (we could hardly speak, we shook so^ 
" Are they bpaten ? Are they beaten t Are they beaten 't " — " Wait a while." 




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Oh the trembling and the terror ! for too soon we saw our error 
They are battled, not defeated ; we have driven them back in vain : <Ul 
And the columns that were scattered, round the colors that were tattered. 
Toward the sullen silent fortress turn their belted breasts again. 

.„..„_„.,..,,,...„...„.„,„„,:.,.„„ 

They have fired the harmless village ; in an hour it will be down ! - ,, 

The Lord in heaven confound thera, rain his fire and brimstone round them, — -"^ 
The robbing, murdering red-coats, that would burn a peaceful town ! 

They are marching, stern and solemn ; we can see each massive column 
As they near the naked earth-mound with the slanting walls so steep. 
Have our soldiers got faint-hearted, and in noiseless haste departed ? 
Are they panic-struck and helpless ? Are they palsied or asleep ? 




Now ! the walls they're almost under ! scarce a rod the foes asunder ! 
Not a firelock flashed against them ! up the earthwork they will swarm ! 
But the words have scarce been spoken, when the ominous calm is broken. 
And a bellowing crash has emptied all the vengeance of the storm ! 

So again, with murderous slaughter, pelted backwards to the water. 

Fly Pigot's running heroes and the frightened braves of Howe ; 

And we shout, " At last they're done for, it's their barges they have run for : 

They are beaten, beaten, beaten ; and the battle's over now I " 

And we looked, poor timid creatures, on the rough old soldier's features, 
J Our lips afraid to question, but he knew what we would ask : 
" Not sure, " he said ; " keep quiet, — once more, I guess, they'll try it — 
Here's damnation to the cut-throats ! " then he handed me his flask. 






Saying, " Gal, you're looking shaky ; have a drop of old Jamaiky ; 
I'm afeard there'll be more trouble afore the job is done ; " -S^^ 

So I took one scorching swallow ; dreadful faint I felt and hollow, , — 

Standing there from early morning when the firing was begun. 

/All through those hours of trial I had watched a calm clock dial, 
As the hands kept creeping, creeping, — they were creeping round to four, 
When the old man said, " They're forming with their bagonets fixed for stormiii; 
It's the death-grip that's a coming, — they will try the works once more." 

With brazen trumpets blaring, the flames behind them glaring, 
The deadly wall before them, in close array they come ; 
Still onward, upward toiling, like a dragon's fold uncoiling, — 
Like the rattlesnake's shrill warning the reverberating drum ! 

Over heaps all torn and gory — shall I tell the fearful story, 
How they surged above the breastwork, as a sea breaks over a deck ; 
How driven, yet scarce defeated, our worn-out men retreated, 
'^''^^^With their powder-horns all emptied, like the swimmers from a wreck? 

It has all been told and painted ; as for me, they say I fainted, 
And the wooden-legged old Corporal stumped with me down the stair. 
When I woke from dreams affrighted the evening lamps were lighted, — 
^ On the floor a youth was lying ; his bleeding breast was bare, 

s'-J' ^ / And I heard through all the flurry, " Send for Warren ! hurry ! hurry ! 
J J Tell him here's a soldier bleeding, and he'll come and dress his wound ! " 
». Ah, we knew not till the morrow told its tale of death and sorrow, 
How the starlight found him stiffened on the dark and bloody ground. 



Who the youth was, what his name was, where the place from which he came was, 
Who had brought him from the battle, and had left him at our door, 
He could not speak to tell us ; but 'twas one of our brave fellows, 
'_^ As the homespun plainly showed us which the dying soldier wore. 

For they all thought he was dying, as they gathered round him crying, 
And they said, " Oh how they'll miss him ! " and, " What will his mother do ? 
Then, his eyelids just unclosing like a child's that has been dozing. 
He faintly murmured, " Mother ! " and — I saw his eyes were blue, 

— " Why grandma, how you're winking ! " — Ah, my child, it sets me thinking 

Of a story not like this one. Well, he somehow lived along ; 

So we came to know each other, and I nursed him like a — mother. 

Till at last he stood before me, tall, and rosy-cheeked, and strong. 

And we sometimes walked together in the pleasant summer weather ; 
— " Please to tell us what his name was ? " — Just your own, my little dear, 
There's his picture Copley painted : we became so well acquainted. 
That — in short, that's why I'm grandma, and you children all are here ! 








_^ FTER the retreat of the British from Concord and Lexington, on 
^ the 19th of April, the provincial militia closed in around Boston, 
and began to learn soldiering in earnest. The right wing of the 
" rebel " army rested at Roxbury and Jamaica Plain, under com- 
mand of Gen. John Thomas ; the centre at Old Cambridge, under 
command of Gen. Artemas Ward, the chief ofificer of the army ; 
and the left, at Medford, Charlestown, and Chelsea, under command 
(apparently) of Gen. Israel Putnam. The returns, June 9, show a 
total force of 7,644 men. 

To keep up the enthusiasm of the men, and gratify their desire 
to come in contact with the enemy, numerous expeditions were organized to attack the out- 
posts, and seize the supplies of live-stock and hay which had been gathered on the islands 
in Boston Harbor. On the 27th of May, quite an important engagement took place on 
Noddle's Island, now East Boston, which the patriotic inhabitants of that locality desire to 
have recorded by the historian as the second battle of the Revolution. Col. Stark, who 
afterwards made his name famous at the battle of Bennington, was sent with a detachment 
of about three hundred men to drive, the cattle and sheep from Noddle's and Hogg Islands 
across Chelsea Creek, which was fordable at low water. While engaged in executing their 
instructions, they were discovered by the guard of marines. The British admiral hoisted a 
red flag at the mainmast-head ; and an armed schooner and sloop were sent up Chelsea 
Creek to cut off the return of the marauders. A force of grenadiers was sent to aid the 
marine guard on Noddle's Island ; and Col. Stark was forced to retreat to Hogg Island 
(now Breed's), and thence to the mainland; but he succeeded in carrying off a large part of 
the live-stock. The schooner continued to fire at the provincials after they had drawn up 
on Chelsea Neck ; and Gen. Putnam, who smelt the battle afar off, came up with re-enforce- 
ments, and opened a brisk fire in return. Being unable to get the schooner out of range, 
the crew were forced to abandon her, and she fell into the possession of the provincials, 




VIEW OF THE BRITISH LINES ON BOSTON NECK. 



with all her equipments and stores, — four six-pounders, twelve swivels, and some small- 
arms. Only three or four of the provincials were wounded. The loss of the British was 
greatly exaggerated at the time. Gage's official report states that " two men were killed, 
and a few wounded." " The New Hampshire Gazette," under date of June 2, 1775, reported 



Copyright, 1S75, by James R. Osgood & Co. 




CANNON WITHOUT TRUNNIONS, USED BEFORE BOSTON. 



that " 'Tis said between 2 and 300" [a safe way of putting it] " Marines and Regulars were 
Killed and Wounded, and that a place was dug in Boston twenty-five feet square to bury 
their dead." One man asserted that he saw sixty-four dead men landed at Long Wharf 
from one boat. 

Thus Trumbull, in McFingal : — 

" Nay, stem with rage grim Putnam boiling, And menaced Gage, unless he'd flee, 

Plundered both Hogg and Noddle Island, To drive him headlong to the sea ; 

Scared troops of Tories into town, As once, to faithless Jews a sign. 

Burned all their hay and houses down, The De'el, turned hog-reeve, did the swine." 

In the latter part of May 
the British troops were re- 
enforced by arriv.ils from 
England, by which their total 
force in Boston was increased 
to about ten thousand men. 
Howe, Clinton, and Bur- 
goyne, three of the ablest 
and most experienced gene- 
rals in his Majesty's service, 
arrived in " The Cerberus " 
on the 25th of that month. 
When Burgoyne was told that Boston was surrounded by the provincials, he said, " What ! 
ten thousand peasants keep five thousand king's troops shut up ! Let us get in, and we'll 
soon find elbow-room." Ever after, the general "went by the nanje of "Elbow-room." 
With the arrival of these additions to his force, Gage determined to assume the offensive. 
As a preUminary, he issued a proclamation on the 12th of June, declaring martial law, and 
designating those who were in arms as rebels and traitors. Pardon was offered to such as 
should lay down their arms, e.xcepting only Samuel Adams and John Hancock, whose 
offences were " of too flagitious a nature to admit of any other consideration than that of 
condign punishment." 

On the 13th of June, the Committee of Safety at Cambridge received information that 
Gage proposed to occupy the heights at Dorchester (now Telegraph Hill, South Boston), 
and Bunker Hill in Charlestown. On the isth, the committee resolved that it was important 
to the safety of the colony that Bunker Hill should be occupied, and securely kept and 
defended ; and the Council of War was accordingly recommended to post sufficient forces 
there. The question of occupying Dorchester Heights was left to the discretion of the 
council. 

On the 1 6th of June, the provincial commanders proceeded to act on this recommendation. 
A part of the Massachusetts regiments, under the command of Cols. Prescott, Frye, .and 
Bridge, numbering about nine hundred men, a detachment of two hundred Connecticut men, 
and Capt. Gridley's company of artillery, containing 
forty-nine men with two field-pieces, were ordered to 
parade at six o'clock in the evening on Cambridge 
Common, provided with intrenching tools, packs, and 
blankets, and with provisions for twenty-four hours. 
The troops being assembled and drawn up in order, 
Pres. Langdon of Harvard College made a prayer. 
The detachment was placed under the command of Col. 
WiUiam Prescott of Pepperell, in Middlesex County ; 
and at nine o'clock it began the march toward Charles- 
town Neck, headed by two sergeants carrying dark- 
lanterns. Some of the men wore a simple uniform : 




THE GLASGOW" FRIGATE. 



others were dressed in their Sunday suit of homespun cloth. Their guns were of different 
patterns and sizes. Some had cartridge-boxes : others carried their ammunition in the old- 
fashioned powder-horns and pouches. Col. Prescott wore a three-cornered hat, and a linen 
blouse described by some of his men as a "banyan." 

Thackeray begins his story of " The Virginians " with these words : " On the library wall 
of one of the most famous writers of America, there hang two swords, which his relatives 
wore in the great war of Independence. The one sword was gallantly drawn in the service 
of the king : the other was the weapon of a brave and honored republican soldier." The 
royalist was Capt. Linzee, commander of " The Falcon " sloop-of-war that cannonaded the 
works on Breed's Hill : the republican was this same Col. Prescott, now on his way to 
throw up the works on Breed's Hill ; and the library was that of the historian, — William 
Hickling Prescott. The swords now hang on the walls of the Massachusetts Historical 
Society's library. 

The men were not aware of their destination until they reached the Neck. The strictest 
silence was maintained in order not to alarm the enemy. At Bunker Hill they halted, and a 
consultatioil was held among the officers. Col. Richard Gridley, the chief engineer of the 
provincial army, and a veteran of the French wars, was present to mark out the lines of 
the intended fortifications. Gen. Putnam, who had joined the expedition at some point on 
the march, w'as also present. 








Col. Prescott, in a letter to John Adams, then attending the Continental Congress at 
Philadelphia, states that he received orders to march to Breed's Hill. Most of the officers 
were in favor of taking position at Bunker Hill, as being the safer and more commanding of 
the two ; but the urgency of one officer carried the councils ; and Col. Gridley proceeded to 
give the lines for a redoubt, on the summit of Breed's Hill, distant about three miles, by the 
travelled way, from Cambridge Common. The accompanying plan shows, with substantial 
correctness, the topography of the peninsula and its surroundings, and the position of the 
fortifications. 




6'J 



^ABji^^ ^^P-^^ 



THIS PLAN AND PICTURE OF THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL IS 
TAKEN FROM AN ORIGINAL MAP IN THE POSSESSION OF THE 
PUBLISHERS, WHICH WAS PUBLISHED IN LONDON, IN SEP- 
TEMBER, 1775. 



It was " nearly twelve o'clock," according to 
the report of the Committee of Safety, " before 
the works were entered upon." It was a kind 
of work (i.e., the use of the spade and pick-axe) 
to which most of the men were accustomed ; 

and the energy with which it was prosecuted soon gave an astonishing result. It was a 
clear starlight night. Twice before dawn, Prescott went down to the shore, where he had 
posted a few men to prevent a surprise. As the hours struck, he could hear the prolonged 
cry of "All's well ! " from the enemy's guards, and could see in the distance the black forms 
of the British men-of-war, now peacefully reposing on their dimly-outlined sliadows, but 
soon to be rocked by the awakening of their dormant thunders. 

" The Somerset," of sixty-eight guns, the largest of the ships, lay in the ferry-way, about 
in the line of the present Charles-river bridge ; " The Lively," of twenty guns, lay off the 
present site of the Navy Yard ; " The Falcon " (number of guns not given) lay off the north- 
eastern point of Charlestown ; " The Symmetry " (a transport), of twenty guns, lay pretty 
well up towards the Neck, about on the line where the Boston and Maine Railroad passes 
between Charlestown and Somerville. " The Glasgow," of twenty guns, lay in the channel 
of the river east of Craigie's Bridge. Two floating-batteries were stationed during the fore- 
noon near the present site of the State Prison. On Copp's-hill burial ground, at the North 
End of Boston, there was a battery of brass twenty-four pounders and howitzers, which 
faced to the north-west, about on the present line of Snowhill Street, and distant in a 



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the north battery, - 
three days' rations 



straight line from the American redoubt, a Httle more than half a 

mile. Beneath " the king's artillery " there lay buried the remains of 

patriotic men, whose early teaching had led to this hostile array. 

To one true "son of liberty," whose epitaph is here inserted, and 

whose gravestone was vindic- ,,,—,-. 

tively made a target for mus- 
ket-practice by the British 

soldiers. Dr. Holmes refers in 

his poem. 

At break of day, the guard 

of marines on board " The 

Lively " saw rising on the 

height above them the form 

of an earthwork, which was 

being rapidly enlarged and 

strengthened. The alarm was 

instantly given ; and in a few 
j minutes the stillness of the 
^ summer morning was broken 
-_ by the rapid discharge of heavy 

J ordnance. The town and the surrounding country soon presented an 
^ animated appearance. The people clambered to the roofs of their 
] houses, the steeples of the churches, or gathered on the hilltops, and 
= anxiously scanned the movements of the hostile forces. The firing 
: from " The Lively " was stopped for a time by order of Admiral 
-, Graves, but was soon resumed ; the other vessels lying in the stream, 
= and the Copp's-hill battery, taking part. A council of war was called 
S by Gage ; and it was decided to attack the " rebel " works in front, 
= and carry them by assault. Clinton was for taking them in the rear 
5 by landing a force at the Neck, and thereby cutting off their retreat ; 
i but Gage rejected his advice, fearing that his troops would be caught 

I between the American forces at Cambridge and the detachment on 
the peninsula. If Clinton's advice had been followed, and the move- 
ment supported by a naval force on the Mystic River, where vessels 
could haul in very near the Neck, we should have had a very different 
story to tell to-day. Gen. Ward was in such a state of apprehension 
for the safety of his centre, that he would probably have left the 
Charlestown detachment to surrender or die. It is somewhat sur- 
prising that the British commanders failed to send any naval force up 
the Mystic, where they could have raked the Neck so effectually as 
to have prevented the Americans from being re-enforced, or from 
retreating successfully. The fire from " The Glasgow " and " Sym- 
metry," and the floating-batteries in Charies River, was at such long 
range, that it did not seriously interfere with the passage of troops 
across the Neck. 

Soon after twelve o'clock, several regiments of grenadiers and light 
infantry embarked at Long Wharf in barges, and were landed, under 
cover of a heavy fire from the fleet, at Moulton's Point, about at the 
northerly end of the present rope-walk in the Navy- Yard. The boats 
were then sent back for another detachment, which was waiting at 
- now Battery Wharf. The troops were in heavy marching-order, with 

II their knapsacks. Major-Gen. William Howe (brother of Lord Howe) 



had the chief command, Gen. Pigot being the next in rank. The two detachments first sent 
over numbered about two thousand men. After reconnoitring the works, Howe sent for 
re-enforcements ; and about a thousand additional men, who had been held in readiness at 
Battery Wharf, were sent over, and landed at a point near the westerly end of the present 
Navy- Yard, whence they were to march directly for the redoubt. 

During the morning, the Americans had been strengthening their works. The redoubt 
was about eight rods square, the front overlooking the village at the foot of the hill. The 
top of the parapet was about six feet from the level of the ground. Wooden platforms were 
placed on the inner sides for the men to stand upon while firing. A breastwork was carried 
from a point near the north-east corner, in the direction of the Mystic River, for a distance 
of about one hundred yards. 

One small cannon was mounted in a corner of the redoubt, and fired a few times ; but its 
shots were ineffective. The firing from the ships and batteries did not at first interfere 



ness and self-possession, while the can- 
non-balls ploughed up the ground within 
a few feet of him. It was at this moment 
that Willard, his brother-in-law, who was 
in company with Gage, inspecting the 

_^ - -^ _ position from 

the Boston side, 
recognized him 
by the aid of a 
telescope, and 
pointed him ou^t 
to the British 
governor. "Will 
he fight? "asked 
Gage. " To the 
last drop of his 
blood," was the 
reply. 

Gen. Putnam, 
who had re- 
turned to Cam- 
bridge during 
the night, came 
back in the fore- 
noon, and, see- 
ing that the 

American position would soon be attacked, ordered the intrenching tools to be carried back 
to Bunker Hill for the purpose of throwing up breastworks there, and sent an urgent request 
to Cambridge for re-enforcements and provisions. Many of the men had neglected to take 
their rations as ordered, and were, consequently, suffering from lack of food, and from their 
severe labors. Moreover, the day was intensely hot, and it was difficult to obtain drinking- 
water. Private Peter Brown, writing to his mother a few days after the battle, took a very 
gloomy view of affairs at this stage. He says, " The danger we were in made us think there ■ 
was treachery, and that we were brought here to be all slain. And I must and will venture 
to say there was treachery, oversight, or presumption in the conduct of our officers." 

Prescott objected to send any of his men to Bunker Hill with the tools, saying they would 
not return ; but Putnam assured him that they should. It turned out as Prescott predicted : 
the men seized the opportunity to make the best of their way back to Cambridge, leaving the 
tools at Bunker Hill to fall into the' hands of the enemy. 



seriously with the work on the intrench- 
ments. Later, as they .got the range, it 
was found necessary to withdraw the 
men from the front, and shelter them 
behind the embankments. One man 
was killed, and 
his comrades in 
sisted on having 
the chaplain de- 
liver a prayer 
before the body 
was committed 
to the earth ; but 
Prescott put a 
peremptory stop 
to the proceed- 
ings, and then 
to ■ prevent a 
panic, mounted 
the parapet, and 
walked leisurely 
to and fro, in 
specting the 
works, and giv 
ing his orders 
with perfect cool- 




THE PROVINCE HOUSE, RESIDENCE OF GEN. GAGE. 



To the urgent demands sent to Gen. Ward, early in the day, for re-enforcements, he 
assented only so far as to permit a portion of Stark's regiment of New Hampshire men to 
go forward, giving, as a reason for his refusal to furnish a larger number, that it would be 
unsafe to weaken his centre until the intentions of the enemy were more clearly revealed. 
When the landing was effected at Moulton's Point, Gen. Ward hastened to send a large jjart 
of his force to Charlestown ; but it does not appear that any considerable number crossed 
the Neck in season to take part in the fight. It is estimated that the numljer of the provin- 
cial troops assembled in Charlestown at this time was between fifteen hundred and two 
thousand. 

About eleven o'clock in the forenoon, " Doctor-General Warren," as the English called 
him, arrived at the redoubt. He had been elected major-general three days before, and had 
acted as presiding officer of the Provincial Congress at Watertown on the preceding day. 
Not liaving received his commission, he came with a musket, prepared to serve in the ranks. 
According to a statement made in 1S43 by Needham Maynard, who says he acted as aide to 
Warren, the officers pressed him to assume command, saying, " We are all colonels here, 
and one colonel is as good as another." Warren then said, " If you will continue to act as 




Hor^IESTEAD OF COL. PRESCOTT, AT PEPPEEELL, MASS. 



a council, I will give you my views as commander, and, if you approve of them, they can go 
as commands." This was assented to ; and Maynard claims to have been the bearer of 
suggestions from Warren to the other officers, who received them as orders. This story is 
somewhat questionable. Putnam's admirers claim that he had the general command, 
although he did not interfere with Prescott at the redoubt. The most probable story is, that 
the men immediately around Warren took his orders when he chose to give any ; that the 
general disposition of affairs at the redoubt and the breastwork was in the hands of Pres- 
cott, who originally had command of the whole detachment, and who had not been super- 
seded ; and that Putnam controlled matters at the rail-fence (of which we shall presently 
have something to say), when he was not galloping to and fro between that point and the 
Neck. It does not appear from any of the official accounts that colors were borne by either 
side : but some of the survivors in their old age have imagined that they fought under a blue 
flag, quartered in one corner by the cross of St. George, the upper quartering ne.xt the staff 
bearing the representation of a pine-tree. 

Between two and three o'clock, the British — having been re-enforced, as we have stated, 




ATTLE OF BUNKER S HILL, AND BURNING OF CHARLESTOWN, FROM A CURIOUS OLD PRINT. 



by the landing of a detachment near the village of Charlestown — began to move on the 
American works. The left, under the command of Gen Pigot, was directed against the 
redoubt and the breastwork ; the right, under Howe, moved along the margin of the Mystic, 
with an evident intention of flanking the American works. Prescott (some say Putnam), 
seeing this movement, detached a body of Connecticut infantry, and Capt. Gridley's artillery, 
with instructions to extend the lines to the shores of the Mystic," and prevent the left from 
being turned. They took up a position near the base of Bunker Hill, leaving a gap of 
twenty-five or thirty rods between their right and the northerly end of the breastwork ; the 
left extending to the shore. The position was well chosen. There was a low stone wall in 
front of them, with rails mounted on the top. Other fences in the vicinity afforded materials 
for erecting a temporary structure just in front of, and parallel with, the wall. Into the 
space between the two, new-mown hay was thrown, furnishing quite an effective protection 
against infantry-fire. Col. Stark's men, on arriving, took position here ; also Col. George 
Reed's regiment of New Hampshire men. Gen. Seth Pomeroy, an old soldier who had 
been in the French wars, joined these men, and, although superior in rank to Prescott, he 
carried a musket, and fought as a volunteer in the lines. His appearance was hailed with 
great enthusiasm. Many of the men were supplied with weapons of Pomeroy's manufac- 
ture ; and a historian of the time says, " Had Vulcan himself supplied the Grecians with his 
celestial armor, and appeared in their ranks, they would not have been more certain of 
victory." 

Just as the British movement began, it was discovered that the artillery had been supphed 
with balls too large for the guns. The pieces were then charged with grape ; but the dis- 
tance at which they were stationed, on account of the miry condition of the ground between 
Moulton's Hill and the intrenchments, rendered their fire for the time ineffective. As the 
extreme left of the British approached the village of Charlestown, it was annoyed by firing 
from the houses. Word was sent, or signal made (most probably the latter), to set the town 
on fire ; and the mortar on Copp's Hill fired a carcass (a case filled with combustibles), which 
fell short. Another was fired, which took effect ; and a detachment from " The Somerset," 
landing at the same time, set fire to other parts of the town. It was expected that the 
smoke would be driven through the American lines, and thereby obscure the approach of 
the British troops ; but the wind appears to have shifted suddenly, and carried it in a con- 
trary direction. 

At this moment the scene was one long to be remembered. The tall genadiers in brilliant 




GENERAL GAGE, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE 
BRITISH ARMY. 



uniform, their polished arms ghstening in the mid-day 
sun, marching slowly but confidently up to the rudely- 
constructed works, behind which the ill-dressed and 
half-awed " rebels " stood nervously handling their 
antiquated muskets ; the continuous roar of the heavy 
guns from the batteries and the ships-of-war along the 
shore ; the crackling of the flames ascending from the 
burning town ; the thousands of spectators gathered 
on the housetops and hillsides to witness a conflict 
which might decide the fate of a continent, — all com- 
bined to make the scene one of unequalled grandeur 
and importance. The impending conflict was not, on 
the whole, to be an unequal one. What the provin- 
cials lacked in experience and discipline, they made 
up, in part at least, by their superior skill as marks- 
men, and by their enthusiastic belief in the justice of 
their cause. They were behind earthworks, which, if 
rudely constructed, were yet sufficient to protect them 
against the close fire of infantry and the long-range fire of artillery. The British were 
superior in numbers and in the character of their arms ; but the fire of their infantry was 
mostly thrown away, as they discharged their guns while holding them at the side, in the 
position of the bayonet charge. The chief advantage possessed by the British was in their 
artillery, which, up to this time, had not done much execution, but which was, by and by, 
to turn the scale in their favor. Gen. Burgoyne, who was watching the field at this time 
from Copp's Hill, says in a letter to Lord Stanley, " Howe's disposition was extremely 
soldier-like : in my opinion it was perfect." But subsequent events, on another field, showed 
that Burgoyne was not a good judge. 

The British advance was impeded on the right by fences and tall grass, on the left by 
the low marshy grounds around the brickkilns. The men were mucli burdened by the 
weight of their knapsacks and arms, and by the extreme heat of the day. The engage- 
ment was begun by Pigot's forces on the left face of the redoubt, and the front of the 
breastwork. They fired as they advanced ; but there was no response, except a few 
scattering shots, until they came within ten or twelve rods of the works, when there was 
a simultaneous discharge from the American 
Hues, before which the front ranks went 
down as though blasted by an unseen power. 
This unequal contest was maintained for a 
few minutes ; and then Gen. Pigot ordered 
his men to fall back out of range. The re- 
sult was received by the Americans with 
cheers. 

By this time the right wing was engaged 
at the rail-fence, and at the gap where the 
American artillery had been stationed. The 
same tactics were pursued there that had 
been so successful at the main works. The 
British were allowed to approach within easy 
range, and were then swept down by the 
fatal precision of the American fire. They 
wavered for an instant, and then fell back in 
confusion. The men behind the intrench- 
ments could hardlv be restrained bv their 




MAJOR-GENERAL HOWE. 




officers from sallying out, and falling on the enemy in open 
field. Private Brown was more cheerful at this time, and 
tells his mother, that, "when the enemy came to swallow us 
up, they found a choaky mouthful." 

The British ranks were soon re-formed. Tliey again ad- 
vanced to the attack, both on the right and left ; but, although 
they held their ground for a time, the deadly tire from the 
American marksmen hurled them back a second time. The 
officers who formed Gen. Howe's immediate staff had all been 
killed or wounded ; but with a noble courage he stood out 
defiantly conspicuous, " his silk stockings dyed with the blood 
of his followers," and strove to stay the retreat. 

Perhaps the fire of the "reb- 
els " was diverted from him by the remembrance of a monu- 
ment, which, sixteen years before, the Great and General Court 
of the Province of Massachusetts Bay had caused to be placed 
in Westminster Abbey : " To the memory 
of George, Lord Viscount Howe, brigadier- 
general of his Majesty's forces in North 
America, who was slain July 6, 1758, on 
the march of Ticonderoga ; in testimony of 
the sense they had of his services and mili- 
tary virtues, and of the affection their officers and 
soldiers bore to his command." 

Up to this time the losSes on the American side 
had been very small. There was now a considera- 
ble interval before the attack was renewed. The 
British troops were disheartened, and indisposed to 
make a third attempt. A small re-enforcement from 
the marine corps was sent over ; and Clinton, 
watching the progress of the fight from Copp's Hill, 
and seeing the desperate situation of affairs, crossed 
over alone in a boat, and offered his services to 
Howe as a volunteer. Whether it was owing to 
Clinton's counsels, or whether the commander had 
learned something from his terrible e.xperience of the 
previous half-hour, the next movement was more 
wisely- 
planned. The artillery was ordered forward to 
take position in the gap between the rail-fence 
and the breastwork, and enfilade the right of the 
American lines. The infantry were ordered to lay 
aside their heavy equipments, advance in column 
instead of in line, reserve their fire until the last 
moment, and then scale the embankment, and use 
the bayonet. 

The American officers saw these preparations 
with a feeling that the deadliest struggle of the day 
was yet to come ; but most of them kept a bold 
front, and encouraged their men with the statement 
that one more repulse would decide the battle. The 
principal danger which they had to fear was, that 




GENERAL JOSEPH W.\EREN. 








'Pil-n^M^^ 




WARREN S BIRTHPLACE. 



the ammunition, of whicli there was now 
a very limited suppl}-, would give out en- 
tirely before the advance of the enemy 
was checked. As but few of their mus- 
kets had bayonets, they would, in that 
event, be powerless to resist the onset. 
The American artillery had been of little 
practical use during the day, owing to the 
incompetency of the officers who had 
charge of it. In this last encounter it 
bore no part. 

The weight of the attack was directed 
against the breastwork and the redoubt. Howe led the attack against the former ; and 
Clinton and Pigot, against the latter. The Americans received them with a deadly volley, 
at twenty yards' distance ; but, without returning it, the men pressed forward. At this 
moment the artillery succeeded in taking position at the gap, speedily drove off the defenders 
of the breastwork by a raking fire, and sent their balls through the sallyport into the redoubt. 
The British left now pressed forward on three sides of the redoubt, and began to scale the 
embankment. For a while it was contested with savage energy. Among the first to mount 
the parapet was Major Pitcairn of the marine corps, the second in command of the expedi- 
tion to Concord and Lexington. It is said that he shouted, " The day is ours ! " when he 
fell back, mortally wounded, into the arms of his son. He was shot by a colored soldier 
named Salem. 

The Sixty-third Regiment of grenadiers claim the honor of first entering the redoubt. 
The defenders were now without ammunition, the powder for the last shots having been 
taken from artillery cartridges. Stones were used by some ; muskets were clubbed ; and 
for a brief space a hand-to-hand conflict ensued. As soon as the British had full possession 
of the parapet, they poured over into the interior in such numbers, and used their bayonets 
with such fatal effect, that Prescott saw no alternative but to order a retreat. His men 
escaped the best way they could, — some over the top, and others through the passageway. 
Prescott's " banyan " and waistcoat were pierced and rent by the British bayonets ; but he 
escaped without bodily injury. After leaving the redoubt, the men had to fight their way 
through the British troops, which, having carried the breastwork, were pressing forward to 
form a junction with the left wing, which had swung round to the northerly side. It was at 
that point that they suffered the heaviest losses ; and it was then that Warren fell. A ball 
struck him in the forehead, a few rods from the redoubt. There was a popular story, at a 
later day, and Trumbull perpetuated it in his great painting, that Major Small, who was in 

command of the last re-enforce- 

W^^^^^^^¥^^m^^F^^U^-^^{J^-^^ Mf :mSSM "^si' °f ™^""« ssnt from Bos- 
'- „. _,-„,--= . — ^.- — ._ ,.. .^. — ,.. ,__=;^a;,l ^Qj,^ tried to save Warren's life, 

and that he ran to shield him 
when he fell ; but the story was 
afterwards authoritatively denied. 
The general's body was not dis- 
covered until the following day, 
when Dr. Jeffries visited the 
grounds. 

The men at the rail-fence had 
not been overcome by the dem- 
onstration made against them, 
and they maintained their ground 

ROOM AT WATERTOWN -WHERE WARREN BREAKFASTED JUNE 17, 1775. UUtU the maiU body Of tllCir COm- 




racks from the redoubt and the breastwork had left 
the hill. "They then," says the report of the Com- 
mittee of Safety, " gave ground, but with more reg- 
ularity than could be expected of troops who had 
no longer been under discipline, and many of whom 
had never before seen an engagement." 

Putnam appears to have assumed the 'general 
command at this time, and was conspicuous in try- 
ing to check the retreat. Riding furiously up and 
down among the men, he alternately threatened 
and entreated. It was useless, however, to attempt 
to make a stand in an open field which was raked 
by the fire of light artillery, and the guns in the 
river on the westerly side of the peninsula. The 
partial stand which was made at the brow of Bun- 
ker Hill caused a heavy loss. Clinton was for fol- 
lowing up the blow, and attacking the headquarters 
at Cambridge ; but a large portion of Gage's effec- 
tive force had been in the fight, and had suffered such 
heavy losses, that they were in no condition to make 
an active pursuit. They look possession of Bunker 
Hill, and there lay on their arms during the night. Putnam collected as many of the fugi- 
tives as possible, and established himself on Prospect Hill, about a mile and a half in the 
rear. Of the six field-pieces carried into the fight, only one was saved. After leaving the 
redoubt. Col. Prescott hurried to Cambridge, and, after giving vent to his indignation at not 
being properly re-enforced, pressed Gen. Ward to let him have fifteen hundred men, and re- 
take the hill. " He had not," says Col. Swett, " done enough to satisfy himself, though he 
had done enough to satisfy his country. He had not, indeed, secured final victory ; but he 
had secured a glorious immortahty." 

From the beginning of the attack on the intrenchments, until the taking of the redoubt, 
only about an hour and a quarter elapsed. In that brief time, the British had lost in killed 
and wounded, according to Gage's report, 1,054 men- The loss in commissioned officers 
had been especially severe, as the Americans had " aimed at their handsome coats." One 
lieutenant-colonel, two majors, and seven captains were killed, and seventy other commis- 
sioned officers were wounded. The American loss, according to an exact return, was 145 
killed and missing, and 304 wounded. The result was justly regarded at the time, both at 
home and abroad, as a substantial victory for the Americans. tames m bugbee. 




GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAI\L 




THE CROSSED SWORDS.* 



SwDRDS crossed, — but not in strife ! 
The chiefs who drew them, parted by the space 
Of two proud countries' quarrel, face to face 
Ne'er stood for death or life. 

Swords crossed, that. never met 
While nerve was in the hands that wielded them ; 
Hands better destined a fair family stem 
On those free shores to set. 

Kept crossed by gentlest bands ! 
Emblems no more of battle, but of peace ; 
And proof how loves can orow and wars can cease, 
Their once stern symbol stands. 

It smiled first on the array 

Of marshalled books and friendliest companies ; 
And here, a history among histories, 
It still shall smile for aye. 

See that thou memory keep. 
Of him the firm commander ; and that otlier. 
The stainless judge ; and him our peerless brother, - 
All fallen now asleep. 

Yet more : a lesson teach. 
To cheer the patriot-soldier in his course. 
That Right shall triumph still o'er insolent Force ; 
That be your silent speech. 

Oh, be prophetic too ! 

And may those nations twain, as sign and seal 
Of endless amity, hang up their steel, 
As we these weapons do ! 

The archives of the Past, 

So smeared with blots of hate and bloody wrong, 
Pining for peace, and sick to wait so long, 
Hail this meek cross at last. 



* These apt and touching lines, which are here quoted from Ticknor's " Life of W. H. Prescott," were 
written by the late Rev. Dr. N. L. Frothingham, on the occasion of the presentation to the Massachusetts 
Historical Society of the famous weapons which are represented at the top of page 5 of this brochure. 



